A Mind Changed, Rumors Rampant…
Naomi Gaughan was apprehensive when the prince asked her to gather the staff for a meeting the morning after the trials. The incident of the tabards had not been repeated, but she could tell the prince was not his usual self. All the staff were finally gathered but many did not have a place to sit. When Prince Sean walked in, he stopped and chuckled.
“I should have been clearer with my directions, Naomi,” Sean said. “I meant just the office staff, not all the runners and cleaners. I appreciate what you do, but the task I have for the office staff….,” He paused and looked more closely at the group. “Never mind, all of you will be of help in this project. I will try and be as brief as I can so everyone can go back to work.”
Sean paused for a moment and then announced he was going to accelerate one of the other changes. They would stop the rotations as soon as it was determined which families would control which farm. A gasp met this statement.
“This would not be fair if we based it only on which farm a family has this rotation,” Sean said. “We know what each farm is expected to do. Now, we need to know who can do that best. Some of the farms are what I have come to call production farms. Those are places where it takes time to learn what is produced. Like Farm 16 where they make our metal tools and Farm 19 where our glass comes from. We need only the most skilled people at those farms.”
He asked the staff to think about the years where the rotation did not cause a shortage in something and give that information to Naomi and Tyrone. He asked Naomi and Tyrone to consult the last census as to which farms had very mixed family names.
“We know that some people don’t leave like the O’Malley family, but we may have more. We need to have some record of that. So, start a chart of the information you get,” Sean said. Both of his assistants stared at him and nodded their heads. He smiled and dismissed the group and left for his office.
Naomi looked at Tyrone and questioned him quietly. “Is he well? This is not what I expected after the incident with the tabards.” She was worried the prince had fallen and hit his head or simply lost his reason.
“He walked the whole city on rest day. He was not happy with what he saw. The change in clothing did not bother him as much as the number of people living in Amaurot instead of with their family on a farm. He realized what Lord Kearney has said in meetings is true. The plan the founders made did not work. If we are to survive as a people, we have to change.”
Rumors spread quickly across the settlement. The prince was acting. He had plans to stop the rotation.
***
Sean realized one thing they had was the reports of production totals for several years at each farm. He asked his staff to review the reports on production from the farms over at least the last twenty years. He wanted to see which years had the fastest recovery from rotation. It was only four rotations, but it would be a place to start. The report was not encouraging. Given it was move every five years, and the community now had 35 farms, some families were not ever going to be back at the farm where they did the best. It was basic math. It would take 175 years to get back to where you started. He was debating what to do when his aunt barged into this office.
“Sean, have you looked at these lists? The only farms that don’t have a mix of people are the ones that don’t have a major production function.” Aunt Bess said. “The production farms, like 16 for the iron works and Southmost for the ships never are behind. They slow a bit but are up and producing within a week. That is about all the time it takes to get unpacked and settled.”
“The people seem to have stopped the rotations without permission or anyone really noticing,” Sean said.
“That is what Naomi and Tyrone are finding,” Aunt Bess said. “Now what we need to find is who is the best at each skill. Who gets turned to when something doesn’t work or they need help, especially teaching the children? That is where you start. Find these people and send them back to that farm. You already have some, like the Master Shipbuilder and the Master Glass Blower, look at the list. If there is not a candidate on the list, check the records as to which family had the best record. Surely you have that in the archive?”
“Aunt Bess, do you want to run this?”
“I thought you would never get around to asking, yes.”
***
“What do you have for me this evening?” Sean had contacted his chief spy from his garden after the grandchildren were finally settled in bed.
“Not good news my Lord, there is word in Southmost that two of the fishing boats from Port sailed to the third land this past week. They have contacts among the sailors working for Master O’Malley.” Sean could tell the man was angry. “There are also reports that the land shakes are getting worse in Port and the drinking water is contaminated on some of the outer settlements. O’Malley has ordered many of the smaller ships to be drawn up and tied securely. He says his father warned him that when they start, it can cause a huge wave to rise up and swamp the shore. It happened in the first or second year after the landing.”
Sean contacted the far speakers to pass on the warning, but it was too late. The waves had hit the day before. Most of the damage was flooding along the coast but he realized there needed to be better cooperation among the settlements. The warning about the attack on Port had showed it could be done. Now he needed to decide how to arrange it.
| ← Chapter 41 | Chapter 43 → |
Should you want to read the whole story…
Book One
Book Two
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